So There I Was… Just Walkin’ Down the Street
Antony Lain
Guided by purpose. Fixing what matters. Building what lasts. Advising with impact.
(𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝗼-𝘄𝗮𝗵-𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗱𝘆-𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗱𝘆-𝗱𝘂𝗺-𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗱𝘆-𝗱𝗼𝗼)
Just walking. Thinking. Doing that thing you do when you’re out for a stretch and the brain finally relaxes enough to make connections.
Then — someone walked straight at me.
Head down. On their phone.
No deviation.
No apology.
No awareness.
It’s happening more and more.
So, I started to wonder:
What’s happened to the basic choreography of shared space?
𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗿𝘆 1 - 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗹𝗴𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗺
You see it everywhere.
Phone in hand, head down, vision narrowed.
The person approaching you isn’t malicious — they’re just using you as a navigational signal.
Subconsciously, it’s:
“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦. 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩.”
The result?
They walk straight at you — assuming you’ve cleared the way. It’s not malice. It’s misplaced logic. A kind of primitive safety protocol.
𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁:
Studies in human gaze behaviour show people use biological motion cues to guide their path when distracted or under cognitive load such as reading on a phone screen. (Jovancevic-Misic & Hayhoe, 2009).
A sort of primitive “follow-the-leader” built into our visual cortex.
𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: If we’re all looking down, who’s leading and who’s looking out for each other?
𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗿𝘆 2 - 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁
Now remove the phone.
The person is still walking directly into your path.
Why? There’s something deeper going on.
A post-Covid shift. A social norm vacuum.
It’s no longer walking — it’s claiming.
“𝘐 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦.”
Even when:
• You’re already yielding.
• You’re hugging the wall.
• You’ve made eye contact.
As if movement has become 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘀.
𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁:
Behavioural scientists have noted that personal space expectations increased post-lockdown.
With it came a rise in personal entitlement and friction in public interaction (Proulx & Heine, 2010; Czeisler et al., 2020).
𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Are we asserting status now with footsteps and body, not voice?
𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗿𝘆 3 - 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗱 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗔𝗹𝗹
We’ve all met the Human Centipede:
5 people walking down the street, taking up the whole width of the pavement.
Laughing. Drifting. Oblivious.
This isn’t just bad manners.
It’s a soft power play.
An assertion of group dominance over lone individuals — often unconscious, but always felt.
𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁:
Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) shows how in-group behaviour reduces awareness of out-groups — particularly in shared spaces.
Group = power.
Individual = obstacle.
𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Is group walking becoming the new social wall?
Theory 4 - 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗗𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲
Then there’s the awkward shuffle.
You go left.
They go left.
You go right.
They do too.
It feels hostile — but it’s really just a glitch.
What happens here isn’t hostility. It’s a 𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘆 in social processing.
You both want to be courteous.
You both read each other at the same moment.
You both adjust.
At the same time.
And now you're both annoyed.
𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁:
Mirror neurons and social coordination create real-time delays when both parties try to “read” each other.
In digital-fatigued minds, those micro-delays become macro-frustrations (Sebanz et al., 2006).
𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Are we slower to coordinate — or just quicker to judge?
𝗥𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱-𝗨𝗽
𝗢𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗨𝗽𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲, 𝗪𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗱 𝗮 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁 …
There used to be shared rules.
Do you remember the swimming Public Services Announcement?
Mike — awkward but competent — learns to swim.
Dave — cocky and flashy — doesn’t.
And who ends up being respected and remembered (and getting the girl)?
Mike does.
Because doing the right thing was recognised as better for all
𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆: 1000 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀. 𝗡𝗼 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹.
We no longer consume the same TV, the same messages, the same moments, and certainly not at the same time.
No BBC or public info campaigns.
No family prime-time.
No shared culture.
Just echo chambers and algorithms — and no one telling us how to share a pavement.
𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: If we don't model shared behaviour, how long before we forget it?
𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲
People mirror what they see.
If your feed is full of self-first behaviour, that’s what you learn.
If no one models courtesy, it fades.
Like Fleetwood Mac said:
“You can go your own way...”
Except you can’t. Not in a public space.
𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗪𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗜𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀
Maybe we just need better people.
People modelling shared space.
People who understand that walking is a civic act.
A kind of daily rehearsal for how we live together.
Walking is a shared act.
An unspoken contract.
𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: What do YOU do when someone walks straight at you?
Would love to hear your views — below or in DMs.
No judgement. Just curiosity.
𝗟𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗠𝗶𝗸𝗲.
𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀:
• Jovancevic-Misic & Hayhoe (2009). Adaptive Gaze Control in Natural Environments
• Proulx & Heine (2010). Meaning Maintenance Model
• Czeisler et al. (2020). Pandemic Impact on Behaviour
• Tajfel & Turner (1979). Social Identity Theory
• Sebanz, Bekkering & Knoblich (2006). Joint Action and Coordination
#BehaviouralPsychology #PostCovidCulture #SharedSpace #WalkingEtiquette #GroupDynamics #MirrorNeurons #PublicBehaviour #SocialNorms
Solutions Director | Curious, tenacious geek | Loves leading diverse teams of solutioneers to create winning solutions | #solutionsexcellence
1moI wait until they get really close then step slightly into their path and bellow "Wakey Wakey!". Works a treat every time.
Totally agree! It's ever so dangerous!
A fascinating read. I think there is perhaps another option that comes into play - which is primarily in the pre-hit moment. Where people are so frighteningly switched off from the real world as they navigate the 'phone in hand world'. It isn't necessarily a power play, or anything else - it is a complete switch off from the real world. If you have seen the film Wall-E, there is the perfect portrayal of this on board the spaceship... the real world isn't there, it is all on the screen, in the conversation on messenger, in the 'must see' influencer babble, in the 'where the hell am I going' route on Google maps etc. Then comes the 'hit' - and at this point, I am not sure whether they come back fully into the real world - they are still trying to work out why there path has been blocked when all was going so well up to that point. The lack of rejoining the real world becomes the rudeness of lack of apology or even awareness of what they have done. It is the same dynamic as people who walk out into the road with their eyes down on their screen. When they are hit by the car, it is down to ignorance of surroundings, not a view of invincibility against the incredibly weighty metal box that is about to hit them. A sad state of affairs.